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AZ Alkmaar
Eredivisie | Gameweek 8
Oct 17, 2021 at 11.15am UK
AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar
FC Utrecht

AZ
5 - 1
Utrecht

Pavlidis (6'), Karlsson (12'), de Wit (40', 56'), Gudmundsson (86' pen.)
FT(HT: 3-0)
Maduro (90')

Preview: AZ Alkmaar vs. FC Utrecht - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Eredivisie clash between AZ Alkmaar and FC Utrecht, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two in-form sides go head-to-head at the AFAS Stadion on Sunday when AZ Alkmaar play host to FC Utrecht in round nine of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season.

The home side are looking to make it three wins on the bounce, while the visitors go in search of a fourth consecutive victory to stay in touch at the top of the standings.


Match preview

AZ Alkmaar's Zakaria Aboukhlal with teammate after the match in November 2020© Reuters

AZ recorded back to back league wins for the first time this season following a 3-1 victory over Cambuur at the Cambuur-Stadion on October 3.

Pascal Jansen's men romped to a three-goal lead courtesy of goals from Dani De Wit, Owen Wijndal and Jordy Clasie, before Roberts Uldrikis pulled one back for his side.

With maximum points from their last two outings, the Cheeseheads have moved up to 12th place in the Eredivisie table and are just three points off the top half.

They will aim to pick up where they left off before the international break against an opposing side who are yet to taste defeat in this fixture since 2019.

Sunday's hosts, who are off to Romania to take on CFR Cluj four days later, will be keen to get up a head of steam ahead of their continental commitment.

Utrecht upset the odds in their meeting against reigning champions Ajax at the Johan Cruyff ArenA two Sundays ago when they claimed a 1-0 victory.

Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the contest, a Django Warmerdam strike 13 minutes from time handed Rene Hake's men all three points in Amsterdam.

Having picked up 10 of the last 12 points available, the Domstedelingen are in third place at the moment, just two points off the top of the table.

Only Ajax have let in fewer goals than so far than Sunday's visitors, who are aiming to record a third straight clean sheet away from home this weekend.

AZ Alkmaar Eredivisie form:
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W

AZ Alkmaar form (all competitions):
  • D
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W

FC Utrecht Eredivisie form:
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W

FC Utrecht form (all competitions):
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W



Team News

Tijjani Reijnders was forced with a minor injury in AZ's last outing, but the midfielder should be back in contention to feature this weekend.

Seventeen-year-old Ernest Poku remains sidelined with a muscle injury which has limited him to just six appearances since the start of the campaign.

Utrecht's defensive trio of Christopher Mamengi, Tommy St Jago and Reda Akmum all ruled out with knee injuries, while Simon Gustafson continues to struggle with an ankle problem.

Sander van de Streek scored the winner in the most recent clash involving Sunday's opponents and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Wijndal, Martins Indi, Chatzidiakos, Sugawara; Midtsjo, Reijnders, De Wit; Karlsson, Pavlidis, Gudmundsson

FC Utrecht possible starting lineup:
Paes; Warmerdam, Janssen, Van der Hoorn, Van der Maarel; Maher, Timber, Ramselaar; Sylla, Douvikas, Boussaid


SM words green background

We say: AZ Alkmaar 2-1 FC Utrecht

Of the two sides, Utrecht have made the better start to the season and will fancy themselves to come away with a positive result. However, AZ seem to have rediscovered their midas touch of late, and we are backing them to carry the day, albeit by only a narrow margin.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a AZ Alkmaar win with a probability of 48.15%. A win for FC Utrecht had a probability of 26% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.

The most likely scoreline for an AZ Alkmaar win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.25%) and 2-0 (8.94%). The likeliest FC Utrecht win was 0-1 (8.15%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.27%). The actual scoreline of 5-1 was predicted with a 0.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AZ Alkmaar would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: AZ vs Utrecht

AZ Alkmaar
38.5%
Draw
25.6%
FC Utrecht
35.9%
39
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4Feyenoord1164124121222
5FC Twente116322291321
6AZ AlkmaarAZ1152422121017
7Fortuna SittardSittard115241213-117
8Go Ahead Eagles114341519-415
9NAC BredaNAC Breda115061218-615
10NECNijmegen114161610613
11Willem II113351111012
12Heracles113351222-1012
13Sparta RotterdamSparta112541217-511
14Heerenveen113261223-1111
15Groningen112361119-89
16PEC Zwolle112361121-109
17Almere CityAlmere City11137523-186
18RKC WaalwijkRKC Waalwijk111191028-184


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